Collapsible stage structure



Aug 5, 1958 c. E. 'SKINNER 2,346,221

COLLAPSIBLE STAGE STRUCTURE Filed Aug. 10, 1954 :5 Sheets-Sheet 1 FIG.I.

INVENTOR CHARLES E. SKIN NER \I- Q, ATTORNEYS A 5, 1958 .c. E. SKINNER2,84 ,221

COLLAPSIBLE STAGE STRUCTURE Filed Aug. 10, 1954 FIG. 2. r Z4 3Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR CHARLES E. SKINNER BY Q34, Mon/14 d/A-u-Q ATTORNEYS 5, 1958 c. E $KlNNER COLLAPSIBLE STAGE STRUCTURE I Filed Aug. 10,1954 -3 Sheets-Sheet 3 FIG.

INVENTOR 60 CHARLES E. SKINNER ATTORNEYS 2,846,221 COLLAPMBLE STAGESTRUCTURE Charles E. Skinner, Stamford, Conn. Application August 10,1954, Serial No. 448,800 Claims. (Cl. 272-21) The present inventionrelates to collapsible structures and more particularly to collapsiblelightweight structures adapted to be quickly and easily assembled anddisassembled and to fit together compactly with any associated equipmentin disassembled form.

The present invention is described as embodied in a collapsible stage.Among the many advantages of the collapsible stage described are itsextremely light weight, ease of assembly, and great strength andstability. It can be assembled in different widths or heights, and it isreadily adapted for a wide variety of different stage arrangements, andwhen disassembled fits into a single carrying case with all of itsaccessories so as to be easily transportable.

The stage described is' particularly advantageous for use in connectionwith the filming of television movies or the presentation of televisionshows and for regular stage plays and for various types of salespresentations, and the like.

Prior to my invention there has been a serious need for a suitable stagefor putting on the various types of shows mentioned above and othershave made efforts form time to time to provide a suitable stage.However, in the past it has been necessary to use stages which re quirea large crew to set them up and customarily have included wooden studsand plywood panels, involving a large amount of carpentry work. It isnot uncommon for such prior stages to require six or seven hours forassembly even with a large crew of skilled personnel. The uprightmembers must all be braced or fastened to the floor. Moreover, thelumber and other equipment necessary toerect such prior stages is bulkyand heavy, usually weighing in excess of half a ton and oftenconsiderably more.

Whereas, the stage described herein, together with all of itsaccessories and even including the shipping case, weighs only slightlymore than four hundred pounds.

The stage described is very easy to assemble and dis assemble. With abrief set of directions, two men unfamiliar with the stage can usuallyerect it in one hour ready for use. After experience in erecting thestage once or twice, two men can put it up ready for use in considerablyless time. The various parts of the stage slide together and yet arereadily and securely locked in place, thus combining ease of assemblyand strength.

In addition to its ease of assembly and light weight, the stage is verystrong, readily supporting all of the lighting equipment and scenerynecessary for various pro ductions and exhibitions. The stage is adaptedto carry any special or extra stage equipment or eifects which may beused from time to time with the stage.

Among the further advantages of the collapsible stage described hereinis the ladder-type construction of the frame, which I have foundprovides strength, reduction in weight and rigidity. Also, thisconstruction enables the stage to rest firmly on uneven floor areaswithout teetering. Advantageously, in the frame of the stage describedthe various ladder-type sections are welded 2,816,2 2 I Patented Aug. 5,1958 the ends of the various sections having sleeves and sockets whichslide together and are held by pins.

The various other aspects and advantages of the present invention willbe understood from the following description considered in conjunctionwith. the accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure l is a perspective view of the assembled frame of the stage, withportions of the front valence indicated in phantom view;

Figure 2 is a side-elevation of the right side of the stage;

Figure 3 is a partial elevational view, on enlarged scale, of the backside of one end of the movable intermediate truss which extends acrossthe full width of the stage area;

Figure 4 is a longitudinal sectional View, on further enlarged scale,taken along the axes of two joined tubular members, showing details of atypical sleeve and pin joint which enables rapid assembly or disassemblyof the stage;

Figure 5 is a perspective view, on enlarged scale, illustrating the waythe legs of the stage nest together for ease in shipping;

Figure 6 is a perspective view, on enlarged scale, showing all of thesections of the frame and associated equipment nested together in theshipping case, portions of the curtain material and other equipmentwhich lie at the top are shown broken away for purposes of illustration;and

Figures 7, 8, 9, and 10 show various details of con struction and the.arrangement of certain accessory equipment.

As shown in Figure 1 the stage includes four integral leg sections,generally indicated at it), and a left and a right side truss or header12 and 14, respectively, extending from front to rear between the topends of the respective leg sections 10. A front truss or header 16extends across between the tops of the front legs in and is covered by avalence 18, illustrated partially in phan tom. A similar rear header 20extends across the top of the rear of the stage between the tops of therear legs 10. A movable intermediate truss or floating header 22 issupported by pairs of hooks and 2:3" from the two side headers 12 and 1dand can be moved forward or back depending upon the stage arrangementdesired.

The main traveling curtain 27 (shown in phantom in Figure 2) is carriedby a suitable track (not shown) supported along the rear of the frontheader 16. This main clurtain 27 is provided with draw ropes (not shown)at one side of the stage so that it can be drawn back from the middle toeither side to open the stage to view.

Usually, the intermediate header 22 is arranged about /2; or of the wayforward along the headers 12 and 14, for it carries a second travelingcurtain 28 (shown in phantom in Figure 2) supported from a suitabletrack (not shown) along its rear face so that the second travelingcurtain can also be drawn back from the middle to either side to openthe full depthof the stage to view. A single tubular cross tie 30 (seeFigure 1) may be run from the middle of the front header 16 to themiddle of the rear header 20, being pinned to the tops of the threeheaders. The cross tie 30 may have a plurality of vertical holes alongits length to enable the movable header to be pinned to it at anyposition desired. In many as semblies this cross tie 30 can be Omitted.

In order to brace the legs 10 a unitary tubular foot tie 32 is runbetween the foot of each of the side legs, and a collapsible foot tie34, comprising three tubular sections 35, 36, and 37, is run across thefloor at the back of the stage between the bottom ends of the rear legs10. It is an advantage of the present stage that the 3 legs are notfastened to the floor. In fact, during assembly, the varioussub-assemblies can be stood up independently of each other and willremain standing while the other parts are assembled and stood upalongside. The result is a large saving in assembly time and labor.

The various foot ties can be omitted, if desired, with no loss inrigidity of the legs 10. Moreover, these foot ties can be removed orreplaced, at any time desirable during a show.

The four legs 10 are identical in construction, each leg is an integralunit having a 45 right triangular cross section and including a verticalmember 38 forming the corner of the leg with two other parallel tubularmembers 4t spaced equal distances therefrom. Each of the verticalmembers 40 is joined to the corner member 38 by a number of tubularrungs 42 in a ladder-type construction. The lower rungs are evenlyspaced along the length of each leg 10. The top two rungs are spacedapart a distance approximating the spacing between the corner member 38and each of the members 40. Preferably the diameter of the bottom andthe two top rungs 42 is the same as the diameters of the members 38 and40 so that they can be used as sockets 43 for holding other sections ofthe assembled stage. The other rungs 42 may be somewhat smaller.

A single diagonal brace 44 extends between the bottom ends of members 40to brace them when the stage is assembled, giving added strength to thelegs 10 in supporting the stage. Also shown in Figure 5, by having thisdiagonal brace at one end the legs are enabled to be nested together,and when desired may be arranged with the diagonal braces of successivelegs at alternate ends of the nested stack, thus providing furtherstrength to the whole kit when the stage is disassembled and fitted intoits carrying case ready for shipping.

The larger bottom rungs 42 in each leg serve as sockets to hold theadjacent ends of the foot ties 32 and 34 and the pairs of larger toprungs 42 form sockets adapted to hold the adjacent ends of the side,front or rear headers. It is an advantage of this arrangement that thelegs themselves form portions of the rectangular perimeter of the stage,thereby reducing the span between legs and providing greater strength.As seen in Figures 1 and 2, the two side headers 12 and 14 are integralladdershaped trusses including two long members 46, which span betweenthe sockets 42 in the adjacent legs with four rungs 48 of smallerdiameter. The rungs at each end are spaced in and from the near ends ofthe numbers 46 by a distance approximately equal to the spacing betweenthe members 46.

The front and rear headers 16 and 20 are of identical ladder-typeconstruction. Each includes two longer sections 50, and a shortersection 52, which in the stage described here has a length of aboutthree-quarters the length of one of the sections 56. Each of thesesections 50 and 52 comprise two long tubular members '53 and four evenlyspaced rungs 54 therebetween. The spacing between the tubular members 53is the same as the corresponding spacing between the corner member 38and a side member 40 in any of the legs 10.

The rung 54 at the end of the short section 52 adjacent the right leg isspaced from the near ends of members 53 by a distance equal to thespacing between the members 53, while at the opposite end of thissection .52 the rung 54 is spaced in from the near end about one-halfthis distance. The same general pattern is followed in the left section50, but in the center section 50, theend rungs 56 are both spaced fromtheir respective ends of this section a distance of about one-half thespacing of the two long members therein. The general pattern of thespacing of these rungs is to have the end rungs spaced in from therespective near ends of their sections a distance of one-half thespacing between the long members wherever the ends of two sections areadapted to abut in the assembled stage. Otherwise, the inward spacing AI of the end rungs is equal to the spacing between the lOng members ofthe section.

The movable intermediate header 22 spans across the full width of thestage, and thus is somewhat longer than either header 16 or 20. Themovable header 22 includes two identical center sections having the samelength as one of the sections 52 and two slightly shorter end sections56.

In order to enable rapid assembly and disassembly of the stage, all ofthe joints 57 (see also Figure 4), including one in the cross tie 30,are telescoping joints. The cross tie 30 comprises a longer tubularmember corresponding approximately to the length of one of the sideheaders 12 or 14 with a telescoping joint and a shorter member abouttwice the length of one of the rungs 42, so as to span the full distancefrom the front to rear headers 16 to 20, respectively. These joints areformed by an inner sleeve 58 secured within one tubular member with aprojecting end of a size to fit snuggly within the bore of the abuttingtubular member. As shown in Figure 4, the preferred arrangement is tohave an inner sleeve 58 with one half of its length secured by opposedwelds 60 within one of the tubular members, for example such as themembers The free end of sleeve 58 is drilled to receive a locking pin 62which slides through aligned holes in the end of the abutting member 53.

In assembling the stage the front header 16 is first assembled from itssections 50 and 52 and is then fastened to the two front legs to formthe arch unit which defines the front of the stage. This initialassembly is all made fiat on the ground. The arch unit is then stood upin position and is self-supporting so as to stand by itself.

Next, the rear header 20 is assembled and fastened to the rear legs 10,all while lying flat, and the two side headers 12 and 14, are alsoassembled in a vertical position to the rear legs 10. This unit is thenstood up, and while one man holds it in position, the other fastens thefree ends of the side headers 12 and 14 to the sockets 43 at the topends of the front legs 10 which are standing. The foot tie bars 32 and34 are then assembled in place.

The movable header 22 is assembled and is raised up and hooked into anydesired position along the side headers 12 and 14. If desired, the crosstie 30 is added to complete assembly of the frame.

In order conveniently to increase the height of the stage, extension legsections 64, shown in phantom view in Figure 2 may be added to thebottom ends of the legs 10. In adding the extension leg sections 64, thefoot "tie tubes 32 and 34 are first removed, and three inner sleeves(not shown) at the upper ends of the vertical members of the extensionleg sections 64 are slid up into the bottom ends of the vertical members38 and 40 in the legs 10. Holes are provided up through the bottom rungs42 in alignment with the bores of members 38 and 40 to admit thesesleeves. The foot tie tubes 32 and 34 are then reconnected in placebetween the bottom ends of the extension leg sections 64.

The front and intermediate curtains 28 are carried by runners onsuitable tracks (not shown) on the front and intermediate headers 16 and22 with pull cords so that they can be drawn back from the middle towardeither side of the stage. These tracks are in sections and are quicklyand easily hooked in place by means of brackets which slip down intoholes 67 (see also Figure 7) in T- shaped sockets spaced along the rearfaces of the tubular members 53 in the headers 16 and 22.

As shown in Figure 8 the floodlights 68 with universal joints 70 areconveniently removably held by clamps, such as the pipe clamp 72 to thetop horizontal members of any one of the headers. These are hidden fromthe audiences view by the projecting upper edge of the valence 18. Theclamp illustrated includes a perforated strap 74 with a worm screwengaging the perforations to tighten the floodlights in place.

53 in the front header 16f provide the sockets for Among the furtheradvantages of the stage described is the fact that the header 22 ismoved forward or rearwardly simply by unhooking the h-shaped hooks 24and 26 and hooking it in a new position. To enable easy adjustment ofthis header 22 the side panels of the stage area are each formed bythree similar curtain panels 75 each having a considerable fullness whenhung from the side headers 12 or 14 to give the appearance of acontinuous panel. When the header 22 is forward of the center of thestage area, the hooks 24 and 26 are hung in the slit 73 between thefront and center panels 75 on each side' When in position behind thecenter of the stage the rear slit 73 is used. The slits 73 provide aspace at each side of the stage for receiving the curtains and giveaccess to the pull cords.

The valence 18 is hung from the type of hooks 76 shown in Figure 9, andthe other side and rear curtain panels are hung from the type of hook 77shown in Figare 10. The top loop 78 of the hook 76 holds the upper edgeof the valence. The bottom ends of both hooks are bent over at rightangles to the plane of the hook portion and thus provide a Wide area ofsupport along the top 82 of the curtain panels 75.

Another advantageous feature of the stage described is the fact that itpacks into a carrying kit 84 along with all of its accessory equipment.When the various laddertype sections are packed in place in the box 84,substantially all of the rungs can be aligned with each other to providespaces into which fit the floodlights, folded curtain panels and thevarious other accessories 86 such as electrical extension cords, curtaintracks, draw ropes, assembly instruction booklet, and the wooden malletand pins, for assembly. The curtain 78 and panel material 75 are foldedand laid on top of the frame sections, but

are shown mostly broken away in Figure 6 to reveal the packingarrangement.

In a commercial form the stage as described, can be assembled intovarious sizes. The legs 10 are 8 feet 9 inches long with the overallwidth of the leg across each side measuring lfoot. The side headers 12and 14 are 8 feet long and 1 foot wide, thus providing a stage area 10feet deep. The two longer sections 50 of the front and rear headers 16and 20 are each 8 feet long and the short section 52 is 6 feet longgiving a stage width of 24 feet.

By omitting sections 52 in headers 16, 22 and 20 and the section 37 inthe foot tie brace, the stage becomes 18 feet wide.

When desired, an extra 6 or 8 foot section 52 or 50, respectively, isadded in each of the front, movable, and rear headers and an extrasection 36 or 37 is added in the rear tie bar 34 to give a stage widthof 30 or 32 feet respectively. Also, an additional 6 foot or 8 footsection can be added in the side headers 12 and 14 and added to the foottie bars 32 to 18 feet.

In a commercial form, all of the long tubular members are 1% inchesoutside diameter aluminum alloy tubing, which is available commerciallyas Alcoa 63S-T6. Most of the various rungs are 1 inch outside diametertubing of the same material, except that the bottom rung and two toprungs in each leg are the larger size to assembly.

The sleeves 58 are about 1 foot long and are inch pipe size, i. e., withan outside diameter of 1.050 inches which fits snuggly into the largertubes.

All of the equipment described herein fits into the carrying case 84which is 9 feet long, 20% inches high and 29% inches wide and with agross weight of only about pounds, which is readily carried by plane orautomobile.

From the foregoing description it will be understood that the presentinvention is well adapted to provide the advantages discussed above andthat the particular collapsible stage described is for the purpose ofillustrating provide a stage depth of 16 or a specific embodiment of theinvention. The stage described can be used advantageously in a widevariety of applications and may be subject to various modifications,each as may best suit it to a particular application.

What is claimed is:

l. A collapsible stage comprising four leg sections adapted to stand atthe four corners of a rectangular area, each leg section comprisingfirst, second, and third long parallel members adapted to standvertically and arranged at the corners of a right-triangularconfiguration as seen in cross sectio the first of said members in eachleg section being adapted to stand at a corner of the rectangular areawith the second and third members in each leg section being spaced fromsaid first member and adapted to stand along the sides of saidrectangular area near said corner, a plurality of spaced cross pieces ineach leg section intermediate said first member and the other two, withthe spaces between said cross pieces being unobstructed the ends of theuppermost cross pieces and next uppermost cross pieces in each legsection having open bores facing horizontally away from said firstmember forming horizontal sockets, four long trusses having pairs ofvertically spaced rigid projecting elements on their ends fitting insaid sockets to support said trusses between the upper ends of the legsections with said leg sections defining portions of the rectangularperimeter of the stage and with said trusses spanned therebetween.

2. A collapsible stage comprising four leg sections adapted to stand atthe four corners of a rectangular area, each leg section comprisingfirst, second, and third long parallel members adapted to standvertically and arranged at the corners of a right-triangularconfiguration as seen in cross section, the first of said members ineach leg section standing at a corner of the rectangular area with thesecond and third members in each leg section being spaced from saidfirst member and standing along the sides of said rectangular area nearsaid corner, a plurality of spaced cross pieces in each leg sectionintermediate said first member and the other two, the ends of the twopairs of upper cross pieces in each leg section having open bores facinghorizontally away from said first member forming two pairs of verticallyspaced upper sockets, a pair of said cross pieces in each leg sectionbeing located at the bottom end of the leg section, each of said pairsof cross pieces having open bores facing horizontally away from saidfirst member and forming horizontal bottom sockets adjacent to theground level, three tie bars lying along three sides of said rectangulararea adjacent to the ground level, four trusses extending horizontallybetween the top ends of said leg sections, said trusses each havingfirst and second vertically spaced rigid projecting elements on theirends fitting into said upper sockets to support said trusses spannedbetween the upper ends of respective second and third vertical membersof respective ones of said leg sections and vertically aligned with thesides of said rectangular area, and third rigid projecting elements onthe ends of said tie bars fitting into said bottom sockets to tie thebottom ends of said leg sections together along three sides of saidrectangular area.

3. A collapsible stage comprising four leg sections adapted to stand atthe four corners of a rectangular area, section comprising first,second, and third long parallel members standing vertically and arrangedat the vertices of a right-triangle as seen from an end of said section,with said first member at the right-angle vertex of said triangle, aplurality of parallel spaced cross pieces extending perpendicularly fromsaid first member to said second and third members, a first pair of saidcross pieces being tubes positioned at the bottom-ends of said membersand having open bores facing horizontally away from said first member toform lower sockets, a diagonal brace between said second and thirdmembers at one end, a second pair of said cross pieces being tubes positioned at the top ends of said members and having open bores facinghorizontally away from said first member to form top sockets, and athird pair of said cross pieces being adjacent tubes equidistant fromrespective tubes of said second pair and extending between said firstmember and said second and third members, respectively, and having openbores extending horizontally away from said first member to formintermediate sockets, said intermediate sockets being spaced from saidtop sockets a distance approximately equal to the spacing between saidfirst and second members, a plurality of horizontal trusses eachincluding a pair of rigid elements projecting from each end and fittinginto a top and an intermediate socket to support said trussesintermediate the upper ends of said leg sections, and a plurality of tiebars having ends fitting into the lower sockets to hold the bottom endsof said leg sections in spaced relationship.

4. A collapsible structure as claimed in claim 3 and wherein said first,second, and third members in each leg are tubular and said first pair ofcross pieces at the bottom end of each leg have holes therein alignedwith the bores of said tubular members.

5. Apparatus enabling easy assembly and disassembly of a stage ofrectangular area and easy transportation of the disassembled stage andall of its accessory equipment comprising a box, four leg sections, eachleg section having a right-triangular configuration as seen in crosssection and including a first long member adapted to stand vertically ata corner of the rectangular area and a pair of second long membersparallel thereto and adapted to stand at positions along the sides ofthe rectangular area, said sections having a ladder type constructionand including a plurality of rungs extending transversely between spacedpoints on respective ones of said long members, the right triangulararea within each leg section being unobstructed over substantially thefull length of the leg section at least four truss sections adapted toextend between the upper ends of said leg sections in the assembledstage and each having a ladder-type construction and including aplurality of long members adapted to extend horizontally in theassembled stage and a. plurality of rungs extending transversely betweenspaced points on respective ones of said last-said long members,detachable fastening means adapted to secure said truss sections betweenthe upper ends of said leg sections in the assembled stage, a. pluralityof curtain panels, detachable hanging means adapted to hang said curtainpanels from said truss sections in the assembled stage, and accessoryequipment, all of said sections being shorter than said box, the rungsin said various sections being spaced apart along their respective longmembers approximately the same distances from a first end of theirrespective sections, said box having a length slightly longer than thelength of said leg sections and a width equal approximately to twice thedistance between a first and second member in one of said leg sections,whereby said leg sections are enabled to nest together and whereby whensaid sections are fitted into said box with said first ends together therungs on the various sections align with each other, leaving spacestherebetwcen adapted to receive said accessory equipment and portion ofsaid curtain panels.

6. A collapsible structure comprising four leg sections standing at thefour corners of a rectangular area, each leg section comprising first,second, and third long parallel members standing vertically and arrangedin a righttriangular configuration as seen in cross section, the firstof said members in each leg section standing at a corner of therectangular area with the second and third members in each leg sectionbeing spaced from said first member and standing along the sides of saidrectangular area near said corner, a plurality of spaced cross pieces ineach leg section intermediate said first member and the second thirdmembers, a pair of side headers and a front and rear header, each havinga ladder-type construction including a pair of long members extendinghorizontally, one over the other, and a plurality of spaced rungsextending vertically therebetween, detachable fastening means securingeach of said headers between the upper ends of a respective pair of saidlegs, and a movable header bridged between said side headers, saidmovable header having a ladder type construction and including a pair oflong members, one over the other, and a plurality of spaced rungsextending vertically therebetwecn, detachable and movable fasteningmeans securing said movable header to said side headers.

7. A collapsible structure as claimed in claim 6 and wherein a pluralityof curtain panels hang down from said side headers and the ends of saidmovable header aligned with the spaces between said curtain panels, andwherein a draw bacl; curtain is supported from said movable header.

8. A collapsible structure comprising a plurality of leg sectionsstanding at the vertices of a polygonal area, each leg sectioncomprising first, second, and third long parallel tubular membersstanding vertically and arranged at the vertices of a right-triangle asseen from an end of said section, with said first member at theright-angle vertex of said triangle, a plurality of parallel spacedtubular cross pieces extending perpendicularly from said first memberrespectively to said second and third members, a first pair of saidcross pieces being positioned at the top ends of said members and havingopen bores facing horizontally away from said first member to form firstsockets, and a second pair of said cross pieces being equidistant fromrespective cross pieces of said first pair and extending between saidfirst member and said second and third members, respectively, and havingopen bores extending horizontally away from said first member to formsecond sockets, said second sockets being spaced from said firstsocltets a distance approximately equal to the spacing between saidfirst and second members, a plurality of truss sections each includingfirst and second long tubular elements with a plurality of spacedtubular rungs extending vertically thcrebetween, said first tubularelement being aligned with and extending between the first sockets onrespective pairs of said leg sections, said second tubular elementsbeing aligned with and extending between the second sockets onrespective ones of said leg sections, and a projection on the ends ofeach element of each truss section extending into the respective socketadjacent thereto.

9. A collapsible structure as claimed in claim 8 and wherein saidtubular elements are formed in sections joined by telescoping joints,and said .tubular members and tubular elements are spaced equally farapart and are of about the same diameter, said socket-forming crosspieces'also having the same diameter, and said rungs having about a 25smaller diameter.

10. A collapsible structure as claimed in claim 9 and wherein saidtubular members and tubular elements are about 1% inches in diameter ofaluminum alloy tubing and all of said cross pieces and rungs are ofsimilar material welded thereto.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS526,448 Karschner Sept. 25, 1894 534,434 Frost Feb. 19, 1895 669,621.Conderman Mar. 12, 1901 1,533,337 Purdy et al Apr. 14, 1925 1,634,127Wagner June 28, 1927 2,316,560 Causey Apr. 13, 1943 2,369,340 Ditty etal. Feb. 13, 1945 FOREIGN PATENTS 230,723 Switzerland Apr. 17, 1944914,836 France July 1, 1946 610,726 Great Britain 1948 519,102 Belgium1953

